Featuring footage from the upcoming 24th Bond film, Spectre, interspersed with shots of a dapperly dressed Smith singing in exotic locales, the video matches the somber pace of the song, which first hit airwaves last week.
If the music video is the benchmark, Spectre doesn’t look like it will be a particularly cheery addition to the franchise. Current Bond actor Daniel Craig can be seen staring darkly at the screen, and the film’s female star, Monica Bellucci, is shown guzzling what seems to be a very large glass of scotch before walking onto a moonlit balcony. Heck, even Smith himself sings a good portion of the track in front of flag-draped coffins.
As far as locations are concerned, the cuts featuring Smith match up pretty well with the film. Most of the music video footage was shot at the same Rome locations where a good portion of Spectre was filmed, but some of the film-only cuts in the video take viewers to the tundra, desert, and beyond.
It might come as a surprise to some, but Writing’s On the Wall is actually the first of the spy tunes to ever debut at the top of the British music charts — a particularly interesting fact given that previous songs have come from superstars like Madonna, Paul McCartney, and Adele, whose 2012 song Skyfall won her the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
Smith has called the opportunity to record the new Bond hit, “one of the highlights of my career.” The song is his sixth number one single in the UK.
It’s an auspicious time to release the music video, given that today is the 53rd anniversary of the original Bond film, Dr. No, as well as international James Bond Day. Adele’s video for Skyfall also debuted on October 5, three years ago.
The release of Smith’s new music video signals the end of major hype-builders for the new film, and Bond fans don’t have much longer to wait for their next installment. Writing’s On the Wall will play behind the slow-burning title sequence of the new film when it hits theaters on November 6.
